Archive for the ‘Ticks’ Category

Ulceroglandular Tularemia

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMicm2031676?query=WB

Ulceroglandular Tularemia

April 8, 2021
N Engl J Med 2021; 384:1349
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMicm2031676

List of authors.

  • Michael Buettcher, M.D.,
  • and Chiara Imbimbo, B.M.

A 5-year-old girl presented to the pediatric emergency department with a 4-week history of painful swelling on both sides of her lower abdomen. Pets that she had regular contact with included a cat and a dog. Six weeks before presentation, her parents had noticed a tick buried in her umbilicus and had removed it with tweezers. Five days later, the patient had fever, loss of appetite, fatigue, and redness around the umbilicus (Panel A). These symptoms abated after 4 days. At the time of this presentation, examination showed marked inguinal lymphadenopathy on both sides (Panel B). Treatment with oral ciprofloxacin was initiated for suspected ulceroglandular tularemia. Serologic testing supported the diagnosis; the Francisella tularensis antibody titer was 1:1280. Two weeks after the completion of treatment, there was a reduction in the lymphadenopathy. After an additional 2 weeks, the swelling had completely resolved.

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According to DHS, tularemia in Wisconsin is rare, with less than one case per year since 1980.  In 2016, a tularemia alert was given for La Crosse due to the death of three infected cats.  And according to this report, while rabbits are the main source of transmission in Wisconsin, aquatic mammals (muskrat, beaver), woodticks, upland game birds: (partridge, pheasant, prairie chicken), cats, squirrels, deer-fly bites, skunks horses, sick dogs which killed rabbits, foxes, possible skunk, mink, muskrat or raccoon are also responsible.  One case was recorded from exposure to a contaminated stream.  It’s been called “Deer-fly Fever.”

Category:

research, Ticks, Tularemia

Lyme Disease Has the Potential to Emerge in a Wider Range of Habitats Than Previously Thought

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-03-lyme-disease-potential-emerge-wider

Lyme disease has the potential to emerge in a wider range of habitats than previously thought

by Ali Howard, University of Glasgow

March 21, 2021

scotland
Lyme disease has the potential to emerge in a wider range of habitats than previously thought, suggests University of Liverpool and University of Glasgow research.

A new study, published in Emerging Infectious Diseases found that open, treeless habitats can support similar densities of infected ticks as woodland in the UK, challenging established knowledge of which habitats present the most risk.

Lyme disease—an infection contracted from the bite of an infected – is growing in incidence in people in the UK and large parts of Europe and North America. It is usually associated with forested habitats but over the past decade has, somewhat surprisingly, emerged on treeless islands in the Western Isles of Scotland.

Researchers from the Universities of Liverpool and Glasgow, in collaboration with NHS Western Isles and NatureScot, examined the different human and environmental factors which could have contributed to the rise of Lyme disease in the Western Isles.

Co-lead researcher Dr. Caroline Millins, a research fellow at the University of Liverpool, said: “Superficially, the habitats and the climate of these islands look very similar, yet the incidence of Lyme disease on some islands is 40 times higher than the national average for Scotland, while other nearby islands are relatively less affected. This is really intriguing from an ecological and public health perspective so we wanted to try and understand what could be causing this difference.”

For the study, the researchers sampled ticks from different habitats on islands with high Lyme disease incidence and on islands with low incidence to determine tick numbers and infection rates. None of these islands had any forests. They also analyzed survey responses from 522 local adult residents to understand the social and behavioral factors that influence when and where people are exposed to tick bites.

The proportion of infected ticks was found to be around 6% on islands with high numbers of Lyme disease cases, compared to less than 1% on islands with low numbers of cases.

On islands with a high incidence of Lyme disease, the researchers found that open habitats, including grassland and domestic gardens, had similar tick density and prevalence of infected ticks as forested mainland sites in Scotland.

Co-lead researcher Dr. Roman Biek, from the University of Glasgow, said: “This is a striking finding and suggests that microclimatic conditions in these open habitats, possibly driven by the milder oceanic climate on the Western Isles, can be as conducive to tick survival as conditions in woodlands.

“Our study highlights the potential for Lyme disease to emerge in habitats with a suitable climate other than forests so we should be looking at non-forested habitats more broadly both in the UK and globally.”

The survey results found that residents on islands with a high incidence of Lyme disease were more likely to be bitten by ticks, with most people being bitten close to their home or in their gardens. Residents also reported increasing problems with ticks, with many suggesting increasing numbers of deer, and deer coming closer to people’s homes, as a potential driver.

“When we visited the and attended community meetings, there were significant concerns raised by residents about frequent tick bites in their gardens.”

Dr. Millins said: “Our surveys support residents’ concerns and show that spillover of infected ticks into people’s gardens is very common. These findings can suggest ways we might be able to reduce exposure risk, for example by managing garden environments to reduce tick numbers. We have also started to investigate how deer move across the landscape and how that might affect where ticks are found.”

NatureScot’s Outer Hebrides Operations Manager Johanne Ferguson said: “This important piece of research confirms what many in the Uist community have been reporting for some time—that infected ticks are being found much closer to home. The Lyme Disease Research project is carrying out ongoing research into this, which will inform NatureScot’s work with the Uist community, the Uist Deer Management Group and others to find ways to reduce the tick burden in and around villages.”

Isabell MacInnes, a public health nurse specialist with NHS Western Isles said: “We are aware of the increasing numbers of cases of Lyme disease being reported in people living in the Western Isles, and we welcome the evidence provided through this research, which we will use to guide future public health actions.”

Explore further:  Tick behavior and host choice explains geographical patterns of Lyme disease prevalence

More information: Caroline Millins et al. Emergence of Lyme Disease on Treeless Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, Emerging Infectious Diseases (2021). DOI: 10.3201/eid2702.203862
Journal information: Emerging Infectious Diseases
Provided by University of Glasgow

Category:

Lyme, research, Ticks

1st Report of Deer Ticks Parasitizing a North American Porcupine in Canada

https://www.mdpi.com/2673-6772/1/2/6/htm

First Report of Ixodes scapularis Ticks Parasitizing a North American Porcupine in Canada

by John D. Scott
 
 
Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
Academic Editor: Theo De Waal
Parasitologia 2021, 1(2), 45-49; https://doi.org/10.3390/parasitologia1020006
Received: 16 February 2021 / Revised: 18 March 2021 / Accepted: 25 March 2021 / Published: 1 April 2021

Abstract

Adult females of the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae), were collected from a North American porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum, in eastern Ontario, Canada. This porcupine parasitism indicates that an established population of I. scapularis is present in the local vicinity. This tick species is known to parasitize more than 150 different vertebrate hosts, including the North American porcupine. The presence of I. scapularis ticks parasitizing a North American porcupine constitutes a new tick-host record in Canada.

1. Introduction

The North American porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum (Rodentia: Erethizontidae), also known as the Canadian porcupine, is a herbivore rodent. This meso-mammal is one of the largest members in the rodent family, and has wide distribution across continental North America. This woodland denizen is native to coniferous and mixed forests across southern Canada, and its distribution extends southward into northeastern, north-central, and western United States as far south as the northern fringe of Mexico. Ecologically, free-ranging porcupines have a home range of up to 28 ha. This arboreal herbivore is covered with a coat of quills that arm it from predators. Once a porcupine is threatened, it will hide its face, swat its tail at its assailant, and thrust an arsenal of quills in multiple directions to strike its attacker. The sharp, needle-like quills are painful, and prudent attackers retreat. In the spring and summer, porcupines feed on berries, seeds, grasses, leaves, roots, and stems. In the winter, North American porcupines feed on the inner bark of trees. As these herbivore rodents forage for food, they make direct contact with low-lying vegetation where ticks are questing.
Blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae), are indigenous across North America east of the Rocky Mountains [1]. Ixodidae, commonly referred to as hard ticks, are predominantly blood-feeding ectoparasites of mammals and birds although several species feed on reptiles [1]. Tiny ticks maintain a stealth presence in the natural environment, and covertly parasitize North American porcupines. These quill-laden rodents are primarily nocturnal, but will defend themselves at any time of day. In Wisconsin, wildlife rehabilitators collected I. scapularis adults from several North American porcupines [2].
 
The locality where the free-ranging porcupine was found is in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence forest region which consists primarily of red pine, eastern white pine, eastern hemlock, yellow birch, sugar maple, and red oak [3]. In a tick-host study conducted across Ontario with veterinarians, wildlife rehabilitators, and the public, acarologists previously detected I. scapularis ticks on domestic dogs, cats, and humans in the same precambrian area (Canadian Shield) [4]. Although porcupines have feeding activities in trees, these spiny rodents will have direct contact with low-lying vegetation when they are feeding at ground level. If present, this is where I. scapularis ticks are questing. Depending on the time of year and their developmental life stage, I. scapularis ticks conduct host-seeking activities anytime through the day. Several blacklegged ticks collected within a single collection period (a single year) indicate that a reproducing population of I. scapularisis present [5,6].

2. Results

The North American porcupine was found on the side of the road north of Westport, Ontario on County Road 10 (44.687° N, 76.385° W), which is situated within the Canadian Shield (Figure 1). The injured porcupine was taken to Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre, Napanee, Ontario, and a wildlife rehabilitator examined it. Since the head had visible trauma, it is believed that the porcupine was struck by a passing vehicle. Based on a x-ray, veterinary technicians also found a diaphramatic hernia. Due to the severity of trauma, the North American porcupine was promptly euthanized upon arrival, and five partially engorged I. scapularisfemales were collected.

3. Discussion

The collection of five engorged I. scapularis females feeding on a North American porcupine is a novel discovery in Canada (Figure 2). Based on a literature search [2,7,8,9] and the Canadian National Collection, the author affirms that this mammalian parasitism is the first documentation of I. scapularis parasitizing a North American porcupine in Canada. (See link for full article)

Category:

research, Ticks

NPMA Emphasizes Tick Prevention Amidst New CDC Lyme Disease Estimates

https://pestworldmag.npmapestworld.org/2021/02/01/npma-emphasizes-tick-prevention-amidst-new-cdc-lyme-disease-estimates/

NPMA Emphasizes Tick Prevention Amidst New CDC Lyme Disease Estimates

The National Pest Management Association shares everything the public should know to guard against the serious tickborne disease

According to new research released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), human cases of tickborne Lyme disease are more common in the U.S. than previously thought. Based on insurance records from 2010 to 2018, the CDC estimates that approximately 476,000 people were diagnosed with and treated for Lyme disease each year in the U.S., representing a staggering 44 percent increase compared to the previous annual estimate of about 329,000 people from 2005 to 2010. In the wake of this alarming uptick, the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) is reminding the public about the serious health threats posed by ticks and the safety precautions people should practice when spending time outdoors.

“Blacklegged ticks, also known as deer ticks, are predominantly found in the Northeast region of the U.S.; however, human cases of Lyme disease, transmitted through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks, have been detected in all 50 states,” said Cindy Mannes, senior vice president of public affairs for the NPMA. “Proper tick prevention is crucial to our health and wellbeing, especially now as outdoor excursions like hikes have become the preferred socially-distanced activities amidst the ongoing pandemic.”

Although Lyme disease is treatable, it can easily be confused for other conditions and cases of the disease are vastly underreported. The CDC receives about 30,000 to 40,000 reported cases each year, much less than the 476,000 annual cases estimated in the agency’s recent report. Knowing the telltale signs of Lyme disease, such as a “bull’s-eye” rash that can appear in some cases, is essential to early detection and receiving proper care. However, the disease can present flu-like symptoms similar to those caused by the common cold or even COVID-19, so anyone experiencing these issues should alert their medical provider and be sure to note if they’ve recently been bitten by a tick.

“Lyme disease can cause a number of different symptoms, from fever and headaches to heart palpitations and brain inflammation,” explained Dr. Jorge Parada, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P., F.I.D.S.A., F.S.H.E.A., medical advisor for the National Pest Management Association. “In addition to aiding in Lyme disease diagnosis, regular tick checks can actually help prevent disease transmission in the first place. Lyme disease can be transmitted into a person’s bloodstream in as little as 36-48 hours after the initial tick bite, making prompt detection and proper tick removal key to disease prevention.”

While peak tick season typically takes place during the warmer months, these pests can still pose serious threats even when the weather outside is cold. According to the CDC’s National Syndromic Surveillance Program, emergency department visits for tick bites typically experience a secondary spike during October and November. To stay safe and tick-free, follow these year-round prevention methods:

  • Wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants and closed-toed shoes
  • Wear insect repellent containing at least 20 percent DEET when outdoors
  • Inspect yourself, your family and pets for ticks after spending time outdoors

Wild animals such as deer can bring ticks onto personal property, where they can detach and hide amongst overgrown grass and vegetation. Regularly remove weeds and cut grass low to keep your yard tick-free, and contact a licensed pest control professional if you suspect or discover a tick infestation.

For more information about tick prevention and tickborne diseases, visit www.PestWorld.org.

https://pestworldmag.npmapestworld.org/2021/03/16/ppma-calls-for-industry-participation-during-inaugural-tick-awareness-week/

PPMA Calls for Industry Participation During Inaugural Tick Awareness Week

Pest control companies urged to help spread consumer awareness of the dangers associated with ticksIn recognition of its inaugural Tick Awareness Week

PPMA will also be unveiling an exciting new consumer campaign: TickTalk. The campaign will kick off during Tick Awareness Week with a comprehensive digital and media relations plan as well as a new microsite complete with never-before-seen photos and videos! PPMA also created an exclusive toolkit available for Mainframe subscribers to download on PPMAMainframe.org. The toolkit includes a customizable press release, suggested social media content, “Tick Talk” logos to be used as website badges, high-resolution photography and video content, and more.

About the National Pest Management Association 

The NPMA, a non-profit organization with more than 5,500 members, was established in 1933 to support the pest management industry’s commitment to the protection of public health, food and property from the diseases and dangers of pests. For more information, visit PestWorld.org or follow @PestWorld on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube.

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**Comment**

Ticks are already active.

Also, there are cases where transmission occurred much faster than the often quoted 36-48 hours, and minimum time has never been established.  

Speaking of transmission, ticks aren’t the only thing you must be concerned with (although authorities want to squash this intel like a June Bug): 

More on prevention:

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Prevention, Ticks

Take Steps Now To Protect You & Your Family From Tick Bites

https://www.lymedisease.org/protect-tick-bite-alexis-chesney/

Take steps now to protect you and your family from tick bites

By Alexis Chesney, ND, LAc

March 8, 2021

As we are enjoying warmer days here in New England, I am seeing new cases of Lyme disease in patients who have had recent tick bites. I am a naturopathic physician specializing in Lyme and tick-borne disease (TBD).

Prevention is one of the foundational principles of naturopathic medicine. While I mainly work with patients who are chronically ill, I am passionate about tick bite prevention.

Overcoming Lyme and TBD once does not protect you from further exposures. Being on treatment for one tick-borne disease will not protect you from all of the pathogens that may be transmitted through a new tick bite. And if you have not had Lyme disease, at the rate this epidemic is progressing, it may be more accurate to say you haven’t contracted it yet.

Without an effective vaccine, accurate testing, or simple effective treatment, each of us must do our part to educate ourselves and each other in order to stop the Lyme and tick-borne disease epidemic.  Fortunately, there are many proactive strategies you may take to prevent Lyme and TBD.

Tick tubes

As the snow melts outside my window, now is the time to make or purchase tick tubes. Tick tubes are an excellent intervention to target ticks in areas where mice nest.

tick tubes

As Richard Ostfeld explains, “White footed mice are consistently shown to be the most efficient wildlife reservoirs of Borrelia burgdorferi, infecting between 75 and 95 percent of larval blacklegged ticks that feed on them.”

Place these biodegradable tick tubes filled with permethrin-treated cotton in areas where mice are found. The mice will take the permethrin-treated cotton to build their nests. The permethrin will not harm the mice or other animals, but it will kill ticks and, most important, at the larval stage.

It is the larvae that most often feed on mice, and the permethrin kills them before they have a chance to acquire pathogens from the mice and before they reach the nymph and adult stages, when they might use humans as hosts.

Research shows that over an 8-year period, there was on average a 93.6 percent reduction in exposure per hour to infected ticks in treated areas of the Fire Island Pines, New York.

Learn how to make your own tick tubes by going to page 72 of Preventing Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases.[You can also purchase ready-to-use tick tubes online.]

Personal prevention

Next, let’s discuss personal tick bite prevention strategies. Here are effective strategies for when you’re in tick territory:

  • Use personal tick repellent.
  • Wear permethrin-treated clothing.
  • Wear light-colored clothing.
  • Tuck pants into socks and shirts into pants.
  • Avoid walking through grass and leaf litter.
  • Treat your pets with tick-control products, and check them for ticks every few hours while outdoors and when they come indoors.
  • When you come in from the outdoors, place your clothes directly in the dryer on high heat for 6 minutes to kill ticks.3
  • Shower soon after coming indoors. (Note: This in and of itself will not wash off attached ticks, but it will aid you in spotting them and may wash off crawling ticks.)
  • Conduct a full-body tick check. Use sight and touch to sense for any ticks crawling on or attached to your entire body. Ticks are attracted to warmth and moisture, so make sure to search under your arms, behind your knees, between your legs, inside your belly button, between your buttocks, in your genitals, under your bra, around your waist, around and in your ears, on your head, and between your toes. Use a mirror or another set of eyes to check hard-to-see places.

ticks on body

Illustration by Beverly Duncan, excerpted from Preventing Lyme & Other Tick-Borne Diseases.

 

Permethrin

The most effective way to kill and repel ticks is to use pyrethroids. I do not recommend using pyrethroids on the land because when wet they are toxic to bumblebees, butterflies, and aquatic life, and moderately toxic to birds.

However, I do recommend the careful use of permethrin (a type of pyrethroid) in treating materials. Permethrin-treated clothing and gear is highly effective against tick bites and safe for use. In one study, researchers reported that “subjects wearing permethrin-treated sneakers and socks were 73.6 times less likely to have a tick bite than subjects wearing untreated footwear.”

When you treat your own clothing with permethrin, it is effective for six weeks before requiring another treatment. You can buy clothes that have already been treated with permethrin, but if you have clothing that you wish were treated, there are companies that will do it for you.

Insect Shield has created a factory-based technique for long-lasting permethrin impregnation of clothing that allows for clothes to hold their pesticidal activity against Ixodes scapularis (blacklegged “deer” ticks) for 70 washes.

A study conducted on workers from the North Carolina Division of Water Quality wearing clothing treated by Insect Shield found a 99 percent decrease in the rate of tick bites acquired during work hours and a 93 percent decrease in the total incidence of tick bites.

While research is not conclusive about the effectiveness of using essential oils on the land, research and experience shows that essential oils on the skin are effective as a personal tick-repellent spray while we are in tick habitat. The product I recommend and use myself is 20 percent cedarwood oil and 80 percent hydrated silica. I recommend reapplying every 1 to 2 hours. It is nontoxic to bees, butterflies, and fish.

What if you get a tick bite?

Implementing tick bite prevention strategies is crucial, but equally important is knowing when to administer prophylaxis — that is, a measure taken to prevent disease. Prophylactic measures can be initiated by anyone immediately after finding a tick bite, and they can be used regularly by people at high risk for tick bites.

The prophylaxis I recommend is a specific herbal formula designed to target the pathogens specifically carried by ticks in your area. For example, if you are at risk for a blacklegged (deer) tick bite, “deer tick bite formula” which contains cat’s claw, cryptolepis, Japanese knotweed and houttuynia would be the appropriate formula.

In addition to killing the pathogens that may be carried by the blacklegged tick (Borrelia burgdorferi, B.mayonii, B. miyamotoi, Babesia species, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Ehrlichia muris eauclairensis, and Powassan virus), the herbs activate the immune system in a beneficial way in the face of those pathogens.

Discuss whether the herbal prophylaxis is appropriate for you with a trained professional.

If you develop a rash or symptoms after a tick bite, you have passed from the realm of prophylaxis into a symptomatic tick bite and possible acute tick-borne disease. Therefore, please contact a Lyme-literate medical professional to discuss your signs/symptoms and get the appropriate comprehensive testing and treatment required.

While Lyme and other tick-borne diseases are on the rise, you are now equipped with some tick control and personal tick bite prevention tactics, as well as herbal prophylaxis. My hope is that I may empower a movement to halt the spread of Lyme and TBD through prevention. Prevention is the best medicine!

Excerpted from “Preventing Lyme and Other Tick-Borne Diseases” by Alexis Chesney. Used with permission from Storey Publishing.

Alexis Chesney ND, LAc is a naturopathic physician and acupuncturist specializing in the treatment of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. For more information about her book and her protocols, see her website dralexischesney.com.

References

Richard S. Ostfeld, Lyme Disease: The Ecology of a Complex System (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012).

“Damminix Tick Tubes Test Results on Fire Island, N.Y.,” Ecohealth Inc., http://www.ticktubes .com/downloads/ticktubes_fire_island_study.pdf. Accessed March 11, 2018.

Christina A. Nelson, et al., “The Heat Is On: Killing Blacklegged Ticks in Residential Washers and Dryers to Prevent Tickborne Diseases,” Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases 7, no. 5 (2016): 958–63, doi:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2016.04.016.

Nathan J. Miller, Erin E. Rainone, Megan C. Dyer, and Liliana Gonzalez, “Tick Bite Protection with Permethrin-Treated Summer-Weight Clothing,” Journal of Medical Entomology 48, no. 2 (January 2011): 327–33, doi:10.1603/me10158.

“Knockdown Testing,” Insect Shield, www.insectshield.com/Knockdown-Testing.aspx. Accessed March 11, 2018.

Meagan F. Vaughn and Steven R. Meshnick, “Pilot Study Assessing the Effectiveness of Long- Lasting Permethrin-Impregnated Clothing for the Prevention of Tick Bites,” Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases 11, no. 7 (July 2011): 869–75, doi:10.1089/vbz.2010.0158.

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Category:

Activism, Prevention, Ticks